Discussions By Condition: Sexual conditions

Still having severe pain 2.25 years after Inguinal Hernia Repair

To whom it may concern:I life my life as any of you do, I eat as best as possible, exercise and I work all the time. I am always active, I just am having one huge problem. I had been diagnosed with an "inguinal hernia" around aug of 05 and I had it operated on in march of 2006. This had to be the most excruciating pain/ surgery I have ever encountered. It gets worse, I went back to the surgeon for the first year about once every 3 months about 3 -4 different times, complaining about sharp stabbing like pains on the right side of my abdomal. The sharp stabbing pain almost felt as if it were at the point of the right hip muscle. The pain i experience on the right side of my right testicle is the worst. It almost feels like the tendon connecting my leg to my pubic bone is not in the correct spot, I just notice severe amounts of pain and discomfort. I have not been able to resume normal activities as I would have liked to. I can no longer even work due to excruciating pain. Being a chef you have to be able to maneuvar and if I could compare my body before and after this surgery I would have never gone into the OR.(operation room) I am here wondering what I should do, I have tried almost everything possible, I have tried to wear bibs to reduce "stomache pressure" from wearing pants and belt because I would note that wearing pants causes painThe pain is all around the general area where my incison is. I just am at a standstill of what to do here its been over 2 years and if anything, the surgeon wont admit he messed up. He says he has performed 1000's of these similar surgeries and has never had anyone period come back with complications and that I am a first. This pain is so bad that it inturrupts my daily activities, Chores around the house become a bigtime burdon because if I go to bend over and dont just do it just right, BLAM feels like i get stabbed in the testicle right side almost feels as im getting stabbed in the uppermost left portion of the right leg about 1-2" going from my right side of my testicle stretching upward at a 45 degree angle toward my hip. Once this pain has started I cannot think properly I can feel my adrenal glands kick in and the pain still remains, I have tried numerous remedies that I can think possible, Aspirin, aleve, advil excederin back and body, everything. Nothing helps alleviate the pain. I went back to the doctor (Surgeon i guess) and he had no explanation of pain so he said "here take these samples" they were celebrex, they did not help matters one bit. I figured that this was the 4th time in a year I have seen this guy and he already got his 1600 dollars for my surgery so he could care less. I just get so frustrated and I am at a standstill because i have no insurance and I had to pay 7000+ for this surgery and I am still paying on it, but how am I supposed to pay for this still and its been over 2 years with excruciating pain every day of my life?? I dont know what to do i am so frustrated mentally because hes not even charging me for the visits but hes not helping me either when I go, just the same routine. Turn your head and cough, he says the same thing everytime "we have no hernia the hernia is fixed, there is no hernia, the only thing i can explain for your pain is scar tissue. the only way we can make the pain go away is to go back in your stomache and remove everything we put in and the hernia will more then likely come back, now do you want that?"

that is exactly how he worded it also. So should I consider hiring an attorney?

2 Replies:

Sorry to hear you are having problems. I had a similar problem when I had an accident that tore my groin and caused a disc prolapse. I was getting back and groin pain and they couldn't work out whether the groin pain was a hernia or whether it was referred from the back. Medicine is an Art, but by being scientific you can eliminate many causes of pain and reach the real cause of your pain. The first thing I would recommend is seeing a urologist to run some scans/tests and rule out any problems with the testical itself. This will probably be negative, but it's important to rule it out. Then go and see an EXPERIENCED and considerate back surgeon, physiotherapist or osteopath to get your back checked out. If they are good they should be able to work out whether you have pain in your testical referred from your back. You could get a temporary nerve block with anaesthetic to run a trial and error to see whethere numbing your back or numbing your groin eliminates the pain.If the above doesn't resolve the problem it is likely the surgery has caused neve pain in your testical. This is not as bad as it sounds. Either you need treatment on the scar tissue (massage, ultrasound) to loosen it so it stops irritating the nerve, or, if you had a mesh inserted, this might need to be removed and a non mesh repair done instead. I can recommend Dr Muschaweck in Germany. There are also specialists in USA who specialise in hernias. But only go and see a groin surgeon or a clinic that specialises in hernias once you have eliminated the other possibilities. I can't advise you on whether to sue your surgeon, but these surgeries aren't always perfect and it may be that the ilio inguineal nerve or other nerve was slightly damaged in the surgery.Above all, stay positive. It is possible to fix this. I managed to get rid of my testicular pain, it just took a while of trying different routes.Best of luck.A.

Whatever you do, do NOT...I repeat, DO NOT go to Dr. Muschaweck in Germany. I went to her for inguinal hernia surgery, started having lots of pain and pressure six months after the procedure, and she dropped me like a hot potato. There is NO post-operative care from her, especially if you are in the States (unless you have endless sources of money to fly back and forth to Munich every time you need to see her). When I called to tell her of my problems, I got a sham of a runaround - take more NSAIDS, take vitamin B, go to a physical therapist, and the BS suggestions went on and on. When I suggested that there may be something wrong with the surgery (torn sutures, recurrence, new hernia), she basically told me that I didn't know what I was talking about. She is under this extreme delusional misgiving that nothing can go wrong with her repair job after the surgery. She refuses to deny that their may be a recurrence, but ironically enough, she gladly operates on other patients who were operated on by other surgeons that possibly exhibit a recurrence. She is a surgeon like every other surgeon, and recurrences can happen...even with her repair technique. To deter me, she constantly tells me to return to Munich so she can examine me - pretty ***n expensive office visit if you ask me. I say...stick with a US-based hernia specialist and don't even think about going to Germany, you will regret it...I know I do!